Wise (formerly TransferWise) is growing briskly thanks to its combination of a disruptive low-cost business model, proprietary technology, and rapid expansion into business and partner banking. The UK-based firm currently serves 10.9 million active customers. Its quarterly cross-border volume grew 25% annually to £47.4 billion in the third fiscal quarter of 2026, while underlying income jumped 21% year-on-year to £424.4 million.
Wise delivered 74% of payments instantly in Q3 FY26, up 9% year-on-year. “This is a clear benefit of our continued focus on infrastructure—our licenses, integrations, technology, andoperations,” Kristo Käärmann, co-founder and chief executive officer of Wise, said in a news release.
In its early days, Wise talked a big game about challenging incumbent payment rails, and its core value proposition still relies on eschewing the high fees and slow transfer times of traditional correspondent banking. By reducing its average take rate to 0.58% in 2025, the company has made it difficult for competitors to match its pricing. 65% of its transfers are completed in under 20 seconds.
But the UK-based firm also increasingly works closely with incumbent financial firms. Notably, the Belgium-based Swift bank messaging network and Wise established a partnership in September 2023 that integrates the latter’s faster, lower-cost infrastructure into the traditional banking system. This collaboration allows banks using Swift to leverage Wise Platform’s technology for international payments without having to overhaul their legacy systems.
The partnership has important benefits for both firms. It allows Wise to scale rapidly by partnering with large financial institutions and expanding its reach, rather than just relying on direct-to-consumer, or smaller business, transactions. At the same time, the tie-up allows SWIFT to maintain its role as the backbone of international finance while addressing the competition from fintechs that offer faster, cheaper alternatives. It also helps banks meet G20 targets for faster and more transparent cross-border payments.
With its significant scale and solid underlying financials—including consistent profitability since 2021—Wise is ready to move its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) while maintaining a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The decision to undertake a dual listing is significant, as even among disruptive technology firms, it is not common. Compared to a typical single listing, a dual listing is costlier, has more regulatory complexities, and includes greater operational burdens.
But for the payments firm, a dual listing has advantages. On the one hand, the company first went public through a direct listing on the LSE in July 2021, so a secondary listing now is not overly burdensome. On the other hand, the U.S. is Wise’s largest market. By listing on the NYSE, the company can increase its profile in the U.S. market and access deeper, more liquid capital markets. Wise’s investors are enthusiastic about this move: More than 90% of shareholders approved it.
Once Wise is listed on the NYSE, which is expected to happen in the second half of this year, it will be well positioned to pursue its long-term objective in the U.S. market: obtaining a national bank charter. By pursuing a U.S. national trust bank charter, Wise aims to settle U.S. dollar payments directly with the Federal Reserve, bypassing intermediary banks and lowering costs.
The proposed entity would be a nondepository trust bank supervised directly by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) with headquarters in Austin, Texas. As a trust bank, it would not take traditional deposits or offer lending, focusing instead on custodial services and payment settlement.
These narrow objectives could bode well for Wise’s effort to obtain the bank charter, though some incumbent banks are opposed to its plans. The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) sent a letter to OCC in Oct. 2025 urging the regulator not to approve Wise’s application, arguing the company has inadequate AML/CTF controls.
Wise will have to adequately address compliance concerns if it expects to obtain the national bank charter.